Metro News & Reviews

Caltrans: full 710 closure overnight between Bell and Downey

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will conduct a full freeway closure tonight on the Long Beach Freeway (I-710) in both directions from the Glenn Anderson Freeway (I-105) to Atlantic Avenue/Bandini Boulevard from 11 p.m. until Tuesday (10/11) at 5 a.m.

The full closure in both directions is necessary to remove the temporary median barriers used throughout the weekend for the cross-over traffic operation. A cross-over puts all traffic on one side of the freeway while construction takes place on the other side. Tonight’s work also involves re-striping the lanes for the Tuesday morning commute.

Northbound I-710 has been fully closed in this location since Friday night (10/7) as part of the on-going extended closure schedule occurring each weekend since August 5. Normally, all closures end Monday at 5 a.m., but today’s re-opening was delayed due to a construction operation that took longer than expected. After excavating to about five feet deep, the soil at Gage Avenue was too clay-like to pave over. Removal of this material delayed the paving.

The work is part of the $65 million Long Life Pavement Project to rehabilitate aging pavement from Firestone Boulevard to Slauson Avenue. The project will provide the roadway with several decades of service life, improved pavement performance and a smoother ride for the traveling public. The project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The contractor is SEMA Construction of Lake Forrest.

The full freeway closure schedule will continue each weekend throughout October, weather permitting. The estimated completion date for the entire project is spring 2012. For more information on the I-710 full freeway closure schedule, visit www.dot.ca.gov/dist07 or follow Caltrans District 7 on Twitter or The Caltrans Connector blog at caltransd7info.blogspot.com.